


The End is Just the Beginning

by Slytherclaw_Spice_and_Everything_Nice, the_fifth_marauder101



Series: The End is Just the Beginning Series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Auror!Ron Weasley, Brotp, But We Love Her For It, Cinnamon Roll Draco Malfoy, Cinnamon Roll Harry Potter, Draco just Being Draco, Draco's going through a lot of pain, Fluff and Angst, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Harry Potter is a Good Friend, Heavy Angst, Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy Friendship, Hermione being a smartarse, Hogwarts Express, Lot's of timeskips, M/M, Not a 'happy ending', OTP Feels, Quirky!Draco, Sexual Tension, Sorry!, Tags Are Fun, Tags Are Hard, This is the equivalent of having a deep wound, Time Travel, Weird writing styles, With a hint of spice, and a heck of a lot of BS, and simply putting a small Hello Kitty Bandage on it, auror!Draco Malfoy, auror!Harry Potter, but he's so cuteeeeeeeeeee, ooc draco malfoy, to mock your pain, two running timelines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-11 00:01:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17436005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slytherclaw_Spice_and_Everything_Nice/pseuds/Slytherclaw_Spice_and_Everything_Nice, https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_fifth_marauder101/pseuds/the_fifth_marauder101
Summary: When Draco decided to join the Auror forces, he knew life would be made hell for him by just about everyone in the Ministry. Yet never did Draco think he would be condemned to a fate like this.OrThe one where Draco gets the second chance he never knew he wanted. Before he realized that 'Happy Endings' just aren't for his destiny.Or were they?ON HOLD- TILL SUMMER





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This will have a lot of time skips and the chapters will be long but rather undetailed. The chapters will be grouped by years, and will only include the main scenes. This was mainly us trying out a new style of writing and a new idea.  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~Vixen and Dee

 As head Auror Robards called out the partners, Draco just dearly hoped he would get a decent partner. Marleen Gwain wasn’t that bad, and they had a few pleasant conversations in the mornings. Draco wasn’t a bad Auror, to the surprise of both himself and most of the Ministry. He kept his head down, turned in his work on time, and rarely did he even get in something as simple as a petty argument-unlike most of the other Aurors... He opted to disappear in the background, and he hoped he could continue to do so in the near future, so as long as he had a decent partner. But of course, the fates just had it in for him.

 

“Auror Potter and... Auror Malfoy.”

 

_Well, it could have been Weasley…_

**~*@*~**

 

“Hey-o, Draco!” Draco turned from his cup of tea and saw the open face of one of his _only_ friends.

 

“Good Morning Marleen, how’s Weasley?” Marleen had been partnered with the red-haired Gryffindor, and they worked surprisingly well together, unlike himself and…

 

“How’s Potter?” She said smiling that little smile they shared whenever the raven-haired golden boy was brought up.

 

“When he talks to me, I’ll let you know.” They shared a chuckle and walked to the offices. _Just a regular day._

 

Since childhood, Draco’s life had always been centered around routines. And as a result, he fell into one quite easily at the Ministry. Go to work, chat with Marleen in the break room, go to his desk and let Potter pointedly ignore him, occasionally work on a case with said partner, do the paperwork that Potter **never** assisted on, and go home. Quite a boring life, but he could live with it.

 

So when Potter wasn’t around when they, ~~as a~~ ~~**team** ~~ ~~,~~ were to go on an important case, Draco was rather wary.

 

**~*@*~**

 

“Malfoy!” Robards popped his head into their office. “We got a lead on the Nano-Death Eater’s case, can you and Potter go in and…” Robards stopped in front of Potter’s desk.

 

“Hold on a moment, where’s Potter?” Draco shrugged in response. He honestly has no idea. One moment Potter was carelessly drumming his fingers on his desk, the next he was storming out of the room without a glance back. Not  _that_ was a surprise.

 

“Well no matter, go with Auror Weasley then, Auror Gwain is out sick today.” Draco mentally sighed and nodded sullenly. He already was aware of that, with the fact that she didn’t show up for tea, and sent him an owl earlier. This day was already as bad as it was.

 

Somehow, he just knew that something was about to go terribly wrong.

 

**~*@*~**

 

“Great just great, I have to be stuck with _Malfoy_!” Weasley grumbled and complained loudly as they hike up a rather steep and windy hill, towards the hidden warehouse at the top. Draco merely sighed and continued on. They walked, higher and higher up, Weasley complaining and throwing barbs at Draco, while the former just ignored him.  

 

They continued walking and finally reached the peak of the steep hill. The top was covered in green grass and beautiful multi-colored flowers. He had to resist the urge to go up and smell them. He had found he had a new enjoyment for flowers. They brightened up many aspects of his dull life, and he always went out to the flower shop down the street to collect new ones for his shabby little upstairs flat. He had seen Potter there a few times. Draco guessed he liked flowers too. There were some on his desk. But anytime they happened to spot each other, both would come to a silent agreement to ignore everything they saw or heard.

 

He later regretted not going over to smell the flowers.

**~*@*~**

 

He and Weasley walked into the semi-abandoned factory down the hill. It looked like the _definition_ of gross, covered in mold and gunk on all four sides. It was just about as big as his flat complex. _Perfect for a Death Eater meeting_.

 

He was scared. He always was. These raids always left a sore spot, and on days like this, he would usually invite Marleen so they could drink and watch Sherlock on the telly. He usually had particularly horrible headaches the day after, and always woke up with Marleen across from him on the bed with a Sherlock Holmes cluedop piece, and him in a thick gray jacket over his white shirt and slacks. Those were weird nights. They had found that both enjoyed the series on the telly, and would always watch them together. He enjoyed the main character and found himself with the books after his first day of watching.

 

They walked into the old building and looked around. It was seemingly empty. But they both knew it wasn't true. They walked farther into the dark factory and were looking back constantly. They went up to the next floor, and a spell shot straight through the air, barely missing Draco's head. _An Ambush_. He went a bit pale. Weasley then looked at him.

 

“We both hate each other, and that's obvious. But right now we're in a dangerous situation. Can we please work together so neither of us ends up dead?” Draco was surprised by Weasely’s sudden maturity.

“You're still a right smarmy git,” _And there it was._ “but I **don't** want you dead. So let's do this.”

 

Draco nodded, and they turned back to back to help protect each other. A spell then shot between the two of them, and they both rolled to a side to avoid it. Three Death Eaters came out of nowhere. And Ron and Draco were now separated.

 

They each fought as hard as they could, seeing as their lives **did** depend on it, and knocked two of the three of them out. But they weren't sure where the other one was. Then Draco saw it. The gleam of a hateful eye through the black swirling mask. They raised their wand towards Weasley. **_No_ **.

 

Draco sprinted over, thinking about what he was doing. But he knew he had to. Weasley had a wife! And children! People who relied on him and loved him. What was his life compared to Weasley’s? He had no family but Andromeda and Teddy, and even they didn’t seem to look forward to his visits. _~~The way they did for Potter~~. _ Draco wouldn't be leaving a wife or any children behind.

 

He shouted out a loud ‘No!’. That distracted the ‘Death Eater’ for all but a second. The green killing curse that was supposed to come out did not.  Instead, a stream of dark purple light came out. But by the time Weasley noticed, there was no time for defending himself. Then Draco did the _unimaginable_ for his former enemy.

 

 _He jumped in front of him_.

 

Weasley gasped in surprise and shot a spell to the Death Eater. Draco didn't see what he shot or what happened. Draco flew across the room, his vision blurring as his head hit _something._ Draco gasped as the pain hit him in waves, making it hard to breathe. Draco felt as though his heart had been pierced with steel. As though his chest had been shredded with a sharp sword. Suddenly cold all over, Draco felt so... _lifeless_ . He wasn’t aware of anything at the moment, even has the blobs of color before his eyes frantically moved about. He just knew he was _cold_.

 

Weasley looked down at him, all the while gasping for breaths of air.

 

“M-Malfoy?” Draco tried to respond but couldn't. It hurt too much. His vision was fading to black dots that danced across his eyes, and it felt like there were a thousand racehorses galloping in his head.

 

Weasley tried again.

 

“D-draco?” To that, Draco used all the strength left in him to look up at Weasley, his vision momentarily focusing on a drop of blood had fallen in front of his eyes, before looking back at the blob of red and black above him. “The Aurors are on their way. You'll be **alright** . _Merlin_ , just... Stay with me Malfoy!”

 

“We both k-know that's not true W-Weasley.” Draco whispered brokenly, as he tried to will oxygen into his failing lungs.

 

Weasley looked a bit shaken up, his eyes wild and panicked, as he tried spell after spell. Trying to heal the blond who was bleeding out in front of him. Even through Draco’s pain addled state, he knew it was a lost cause. He was a lost cause

 

“Why? Why would you? Do that…?” Weasley finally stopped the pointless enchantments.

 

“You... _you have s-something worth l-living for_.”

 

As everything went black, Draco distantly heard the pops of apparition, and wondered,

 

_‘When did everything go so wrong?’_


	2. Back in the home of the young

# 

Draco slowly came into consciousness. The dark had lulled him to sleep, and the light was now slipping through the cracks of his sleeping mind, urging him to get up. He finally complied and woke. He immediately knew something was going on. He felt different.

 

He remembered blocking the spell for Weasley, and he apparently _didn't_ die. But he felt wrong. He breathed deeply before his eyes shot open. The smell of his mother's lavender honey perfume wafted through the air. _What_? Rapidly, he sat up and looked around. The sight that greeted him was one he hadn't seen in 6 years.

 

_How?_

 

He was in Malfoy Manor. His old bed. His old stuffed dragon snuggled up with him in bed. His lavish decor surrounded him like the walls of his cell when he had been placed in Azkaban. This _wasn't right_.

 

He looked around and spotted Dobby. _What_ ? He was _dead_ . He couldn't be here. The person who had taken care of him and cared for him more than his own father did had _died. He. Could. Not. Be. Here._ He lifted his hands up to touch his head. His hands were...small? His head was small. His...his body was _small_ . _What?_

 

“Uhm, young master, Dobby came to inform you that Master is summoning you for breakfast. We need to get you dressed.”

 

Was he in hell? Because he didn't want to be here. But he had to check something. He got up and ran to the bathroom. He turned to the mirror and screamed.

 

 _He was eleven again_.

**~*@*~**

Draco sat at the table in slight fear. The memories of... _Him_ had ruined the image of the wonderful dining room.

 

Lucius sat at the head of the table looking at the Daily Prophet, while Narcissa chatted with him. Draco was silent, absorbed in his thoughts, unaware of those around him. _Why was he here? Is this the past? Is this a dream? What spell was he hit with? What is going on?_

 

“Draco?”

 

“Ah!” Draco jumped, the bread in his hand falling to the table and the knife he was buttering with, raised above his head, poised to throw. His eyes were wide, and there was a glint in his eyes that made him seem as if he was 21 once again. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, as his body believes there is a threat. His mother and father drew back a bit and the entire room is silent, save for Draco's harsh breaths. His father clears his throat in an effort to bring order back to the room.

 

The house elves scurry out of the room, and Draco slowly lowers the knife while keeping his head down. He gulps slightly and goes to look at his mother and father in the eye. The unspoken question hanging in the air.

 

“I..” he pauses swallowing “I apologize, you startled me, Mother” And then Draco all but freezes, and he notices Lucius and Narcissa do the same, however very slightly. He **never** said Mother until he was 15, it was always Mum.

 

Swallowing the lump in his throat and pushing the insecure thoughts out of his head, he continued.

 

“What was it that you were going to ask me?” He asked politely. Draco couldn't find it in himself to be the brat he acted like in his childhood, he had seen too much. He _knew_ so much.

 

“I was going to ask if you were ready to go to Diagon Alley today?” Narcissa asked. If you didn't know Draco’s mum personally you would believe she was just being polite, but Draco knew that she was questioning his actions. Her left eyebrow twitched upward, indicating she was genuinely perplexed.  Draco decided to play the oblivious game.

 

“That would be nice, _mum_ .” He tried to act as he had just slipped up on accident. Luckily, he was a very good actor, and his parents stopped throwing questioning glances. _For the time being._

 

“Alright. Head up to your room to grab your cloak, and I will grab my bag. Meet me in the Front Room, darling.” She then stood up, and Draco stood as well and left the room. He walked to his room, and Dobby was there with Draco's cloak in his shaky hands. Draco laughed.

 

“Thank you, silly elf.”

 

Dobby smiled.

 

“Always for you young master.”

 

Draco and Dobby walked to the Front Room where his mother was sitting.

 

“Thank you, Dobby.” She nodded her head to him.

 

“Of course Mrs. Malfoy.” And he apparated away. Draco laughed. He forgot how much he had loved Dobby.

 

“Well come on then Draco. Let us go.” She turned and took out her wand. Draco nodded and reached into his pocket to pull out his…

 

_wand._

 

Draco blushed as his hand met nothing, and he looked up to his mother's questioning face. He grasped her hand and waited for the pull of apparition that made him sick to his stomach every time..

 

**~*@*~**

 

He and his mother arrived at Diagon Alley in front of Ollivanders. He already knew what his wand was going to be, so he wasn't as excited as he had been when he had first seen it. His mother looked at him weirdly. Probably for not reacting to something he had been so excited to see when he was young and innocent, yet he couldn’t find the heart to act as he once was. They shopped in the exact same order of the day he had first done it when he was young, down to the words, and gestures. And Draco found himself playing the interactions in his head before they even got to the shop or met the person. Was his memory _this_ good?

 

He only had one shop left...the robe shop. The shop he met the one and only Harry Potter in for the first time. ~~_(We’re going off of the movie, not the book guys don't lose your shit.)_~~ They walked into the shop. If everything kept going like it was going, he would meet Harry here today.

 

He stood on the little stool to get his robes pinned. Then he saw him. Harry Potter. His fore long enemy with the vicious green eyes to cut _steel_. At least that's what his eyes looked like when they looked at him. Other girls had squealed and shrieked that his eyes reminded them of fresh green grass on a hot summer's day when he looked at them with kindness. But how wrong they were.

 

When Harry looked at him and smiled for the first time, Draco had been too self-absorbed to pay attention. But now...now he noticed. He had seen them for years. But this was the first time he actually _saw_ them. And what all the other girls- and a few guys- said about them couldn't compare to the real thing. They weren't just _pretty_ . They were _beautiful_.

 

They were bright green reminding him of two emeralds shining in the bright fiery sun. He had a twinkle in his eyes that could challenge any star, and they made Draco's world stop turning. He was immersed, and it was like they were worlds of their own that he could get lost in forever. Worlds that he wouldn't mind drowning in. He couldn't look away, and he could stand and stare forever and he wouldn't get bored. They were so friendly. And so _different._ They were something he hadn’t _seen_ before.

 

“H-Hello,” Draco stuttered, as the Raven haired beauty boy sat next to him.

 

“Hullo…” Harry looked down at his feet and looked almost embarrassed, his little face red behind his taped spectacles. It was so… _adorable_. Draco blushed and looked away, embarrassed, but for entirely different reasons.

“Hogwarts, too?” Draco asked, hiding his red face behind his robe sleeve. Harry looked up at him and smiled.

 

“Yeah...Hogwarts.”

 

Draco thought he should try to make a better impression.

 

“I'm...Draco Malfoy. What's your name?” Draco already knew. But he didn't want to be rude.

 

“Oh. I'm Harry. Harry Potter. Draco's a cool name.”

 

Draco smiled. “Thanks. Also...if I'm being honest, I already knew who you were...who doesn't?” Draco chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. Harry went red again and looked away.

 

“Yeah...I’ve noticed that…” Harry trailed off and then looked at him.

 

“You seem to be really kind...and you're the first person who didn't go all crazy because I was Harry Potter so...do you want to be friends?”

 

Draco felt his heart go crazy in his chest. They weren't enemies here. They could be friends. He wouldn't admit how happy he was though. He was astonished at how much a first impression could change someone's story. He decided to have a bit of fun...

 

Draco dramatically gasped and pretended to swoon like a lovesick schoolgirl.

 

“Me? Being friends with the great Harry Potter? I have never heard of such a thing! Allow me to rub your feet, your Majesty, you must be so very tired.” Draco spoke in an exaggerated elegant tone, similar to when his mother would mock father on rainy days. On days even the house elves were so bored, and everyone was amused.

 

Harry laughed a cute soft laugh. Draco decided he liked the sound. Draco giggled before sobering. He decided that he wanted to show his true self to Harry, now that he's been given a second chance. He may as well use it to his full advantage.

 

“Sorry if that frightened you, I'm sort of new at this whole… friendship thing, you know?” Harry just smiled.

 

“Me too.”

**~*@*~**

 

The Hogwarts express was just as Draco remembered, it was one of his only constants during all those years. Same carriages, same sounds, unpredictable lurches that made his friends tumble around, and of course the Honeydukes trolley. He settled back in his seat with a small satisfied smile, even the looming anxiety of seeing Hogwarts again wasn’t apparent at the moment. Right now all that mattered was the familiar sights and _peace_ ….

 

“Dracooooo!” _Never mind then, wait…_

 

“Pansy?!” Draco sat up and gawked at the sight of his best, and most bitchy, friend.

 

_So much for peace now._

 

She sat down next to him and scooted a bit closer. He winced and scooted away. She stared at him and slapped his shoulder.

 

“Stop scooting away.”

 

Ever present, straight-to-the-point Pansy was still there. Draco then heard some commotion, and the door swung open.

 

“I-i'm sorry for intruding, but all the other carts are-are full, and I hadn’t checked this one so I thought-”

 

Then the boy looked up. And he smiled.

 

“Draco!”

 

It was Harry. Draco smiled back.

 

Harry was about to go sit next to him, but then Pansy stood up.

 

“Who are you?”

 

Harry looked confused.

 

“I said: _WHO ARE YOU_? Are you _retarded_?”

 

Harry looked scared and stammered out his name. But Pansy couldn't care less.

 

“How **pathetic**. We don't want you here. **Leave**.”

 

Draco was shocked into silence. Was this how _mean_ he had been? He now understood why Harry and Ron hated him so much. He was about to step in, but Harry looked up from the ground. Harry was **crying**.

 

There were tears in those beautiful emerald eyes, and it broke Draco's heart. Then Harry met eyes with Draco. He looked so scared and ashamed. Harry turned away from Draco and Pansy and ran towards the door, turning and running down the corridor after he escaped. _Damnit._

 

Draco looked at Pansy with disappointment in his eyes, before running after Harry.

**…**

“Harry?” Draco called down the hall as he looked for the raven-haired boy. Draco heard voices drifting from the carriages, recognizing some of them but none were…

 

_Wait... There!_

 

Draco rushed into the carriage pulling the door open, “Harry! I-” And then he stopped. Because…

 

They were there. He saw the that sea of bushy brown hair and tangled red locks. And Harry was glaring at him. At Draco.

And his.

Heart.

Sank.

 

_NO_

 

“What do you want _Malfoy_ ?” Weasley sneered. _Don’t React, Don’t React, Don’t React._

 

“I want to speak to Harry-”

  
  
“DRACO!?”

 

_Oh, what now…?_

 

“Draco, darling whatever are you doing here? Why are you here with those _Blood traitors and the Mudblo-_ ” Fury flashed across Draco’s face, and his wand was out and pointed at his former best friend.

 

“Do NOT Finish that sentence, Parkinson,” Draco growled, and he could practically feel the disbelieving states that the Golden Trio gave him but he was solely focused on Pansy’s confused and hurt face.

 

“Draco wha-?”

 

“No, I’m no longer like that, I-I didn’t realize my best friend could be such a **jerk** ! You had **no** right to say what you did to Harry, nor did you have **any** right to say those things about Granger and Weasley. They didn’t say ANYTHING to you, so why should you bait them? I **cannot** believe that these are the types of people I had been hanging about with. Yes, Father is like that but I thought you of all people would know the difference. _But I was wrong_.” Pansy looked shocked, and all Draco wanted to do was have his best friend back. But he knew he had to separate himself, he was no longer like that and couldn't afford to revert back to his old ways. Draco took a deep breath.

 

“So unless you are able to see past the old and utterly ridiculous ‘blood status’ ways, _Leave_.”

 

Pansy gasped, hurt, and ran out of the car and into the alleyway. She slammed the door behind her, and everyone could hear the pattering steps as they ran down the carpet.

 

Everyone looked uncomfortable for a second but quickly got over it.

 

Hermione then shook her bushy head and faced all three of them, looking a bit shaken-up.

 

“E-erm, hullo. My name's Hermione Granger...and you are…?”

 

“Ron. Ron Weasley.”

 

She then turned to look at Draco, staring at him expectantly. Draco went a bit red in the face and looked away.

 

“Draco Malfoy. Nice to make your acquaintance.”

 

She smiled, but faltered a bit before she stared at him, confused. She scrunched up her nose and her brown eyes narrowed.

 

“How-how did you know my name?”

 

It was Draco's turn to be confused now. What was she talking about?

 

“W-what?”

 

“When you stood up for me to Parkinson, you said: ‘You had no right to say what you did to Harry, nor did you have any right to say those things about **Granger** and Weasley.’ So how did you know my name?"

 

Draco paled and mentally slapped himself. How could he be so careless?! If he was going to keep this act up, he needed to _bring_ his act up. ~~_(Hue hue hue see what I did there ;D)_~~

 

“Oh! I-uhm,” He looked around, trying to think of _some_ way to have a valid excuse that would explain how he knew. Then he noticed she was holding a paper. It was her Hogwarts letter. It said her name. _Bingo_.

 

“I-I just looked on the paper you're holding. It’s a Hogwarts letter, and you're holding it so it's most probably yours. It says Hermione Granger at the top, thus meaning your name must be Hermione Granger!”

 

Everyone stared at him shocked. And Draco would be lying if he said he weren't a bit smug and proud of himself. He wouldn't admit it though. Well everyone except Hermione seemed shocked. She instead looked suspicious and seemed to be having an inner turmoil in her head.

 

She seemed to have let it go though, because all of a sudden she smiled.

 

“That was very...clever of you. Good job.”

 

And he smiled, trying to ignore the nervous sweat trickling down his back.

**~*@*~**

After sitting and talking with the crew for a few minutes, Hermione stood and made her leave. Everyone said goodbye and let her walk out. Draco finally looked at Harry, and realized he had never truly apologized. So he turned to Ron and asked him if he could have some time alone with Harry.

 

“Sure mate. Just don't be too long. Come and get me when you're done.”

 

And with that Ron winked and went outside.

 

Harry was looking at Draco with confusion. What did they need private time for? Was he gonna hit him?

 

Draco then turned to Harry, but the boy flinched. Draco’s nervous face melted into one of confusion.

 

“Hey...what's wrong?”

 

“Are you...are you gonna hit me?”

 

Draco choked.

 

“Hit you?”

 

“Whenever my aunt and uncle said they wanted ‘private time’ with me, they would hit me.”

 

He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. And it broke Draco's heart. He wanted to find out more but knew he wouldn't. He wasn’t close enough to Harry yet. Draco swore that when he was, he would find out.

 

“No...I'm not gonna h-hit you. I just wanted to apologize.”

 

Harry looked at him, surprised.

 

“A-apologize?”

 

“Yeah...for... you know...not standing up for you back there with Pansy.”

 

“O-oh.”

 

“Yeah. I'm really sorry. I know I should have, but I didn't know what to do or how to do it. I know that doesn't excuse my actions though, which is why I wanted to apologize. So I really am so-”

 

Harry then put his hand over Draco's mouth. His hand was very soft and warm. Harry smiled, which caused Draco to look down at Harry's lips. They were very pink. And looked very soft...

 

“I forgive you.”

 

Draco looked up at him again.

 

“You do?”

 

“Of course!” Harry almost shouted back. Then Harry engulfed him in a hug. He was gentle, and tucked his head under Draco's chin. Draco couldn't breathe. And it wasn't because Harry was squeezing him hard. Why was he reacting this way?

 

Draco returned the hug, hesitantly, and wrapped his arms around Harry's back. When Draco looked down at him Harry gasped. Harry then looked at Draco's lips. The moment he did it though, Harry blushed and pulled away.

 

Draco suddenly felt _immensely_ hot and pulled at his collar.

 

“W-well, I'm glad you forgive me…”

 

Harry just smiled at him, and then left to find Ron. Draco facepalmed himself and sat down. What was he doing? And why did his heart hurt so?

**~*@*~**

Harry returned a few minutes later with a bored looking Ron in tow behind him.

 

“We're back!” Harry laughed while speaking, walking into the compartment.

 

“I'm boreddddd.”

 

Ron dragged on the word to dramaticate it. Harry rolled his eyes and sat down close to Draco. _Too_ close.

 

Their thighs were touching. Draco pretended he didn't shiver when Harry accidentally placed his hand on Draco's. Draco was expecting Harry to remove it but went red when he didn't.

 

Draco's thoughts were interrupted- thankfully- by a loud tap on the door. It swung open immediately after the tap, and revealed the trolley lady.

 

“Hello dears. Anything from the trolley?”

 

Ron reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out something that looked like a squashed sandwich.

 

“I'm covered. Thanks.”

 

Draco winced for his new found friend.

 

He then saw Harry look at Ron apologetically, and then look back at the cart again. Harry then reached into his own trouser pocket and pulled out a handful of Galleons. Draco and Ron shared a look of astonishment.

 

“We'll take the whole lot.”

 

Draco laughed, both at the adorableness and sweetness his friend, and pity for the rest of the kids that wouldn't get anything off of the trolley.

**~*@*~**

They were all a little nervous. It was sorting time, and they were all gathered around each other, nervous sweat trickling down each soon-to-be pupils backs. Many were on the verge of tears, and very intimidated by the Sorting Hat. But not Draco.

 

Draco was chill. He had done this before. But he wasn't so sure if he wanted Slytherin anymore. He wanted to be close to his friends. But other than that, he was fine. But Harry was not.

 

He looked like he was about to walk to his death. Draco pulled up a hand to pat him on the back. But it seemed Harry misinterpreted what he was trying to do because Harry reached out and grabbed his hand instead.

 

Draco's eyebrows raised up to his hairline. Harry was holding his hand. _Harry was holding his hand_. Draco went red, but didn’t let go. Harry was shaking and looked as white as a sheet. So he just let Harry squeeze his hand.

 

“Draco I'm scared…”

 

Draco turned to look at him.

 

“Don't be scared! It's just a sorting ceremony. You'll be great in any house!”

 

At that, Harry seemed to gain a bit more confidence and attempted a small smile. But Harry still didn't let go of his hand. Harry's own hand was smooth and small in his larger hands and were very soft. They were as warm as they were earlier, and he felt as though-

 

“Malfoy, Draco.”

 

Draco looked up. It was his turn. He walked up the stairs and sat down on the chair, leaving a still-terrified Harry in his midst.

 

_“Well, it’s nice to see you again, young Malfoy. But I believe you have very different morals now,”_

 

“BETTER BE…GRYFFINDOR!”

 

It seemed the Gryffindors didn't know how to react. And neither did Draco. He didn't have a problem with Gryffindors. Well, he didn't now anyway. But…

 

He noticed everyone waiting and went to sit down. Everyone was looking at him with astonished looks. No one could believe that the would-be Slytherin Prince was actually put in Gryffindor instead.

 

“Potter, Harry.” Everyone started talking in hushed whispers then.  The hat was placed on his head, and stayed there for a solid 5 minutes at least. It seemed to be having an inner turmoil with itself, unable to decide where to put Harry. Then it spoke.

 

“GRYFFINDOR!”

 

Harry gasped, happy, and bounced over to Draco and sat down. And Draco really couldn't resist the smile on his face.

 

Ron and Hermione, along with a few others, were sorted into Gryffindor. Then Dumbledore announced the feast.

 

It had been years since Draco had eaten like this. And here he was….happy.

**~*@*~**

They finally headed up to their dorms. They were red and gold, colors he would have to be getting used to. Their trunks were also already laid out. And he was so happy when he realized he was next to Harry _and_ the wall. It was a win-win!

 

They all got changed, and Draco tried to avert his eyes to no avail. No matter even if he had looked away, he still saw the flat and smooth skin of Harry's chest. And it took everything in Draco not to die right there. _Why am I like this?_

 

They finished changing and tucked into bed. Then the lights went off, and Draco snuggled under his red and gold duvet, letting out a contented sigh.

Maybe he could get used to this dream world after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I really tried to wait till I had more chapters before I posted this but I was too excited! Per usual... Hope you enjoyed, More will be coming very soon!  
> ~Vixen


End file.
